Cartridge reloading dies

ABSTRACT

A tool for reloading a variety of sizes of spent cartridge cases comprising a normally upright, externally threaded, hollow, cylindrical body mounted in a reloading press. The upper portion of the body is internally threaded and of greater diameter for receiving a selected cartridge case receiving die, a first externally threaded sleeve is received in the body. A threaded bore in the sleeve receives a second externally threaded sleeve which has a threaded bore for receiving a threaded rod having a resizing and decapping tool at a lower end thereof. Alternatively, a bullet seating tool having a substantially conical recess in its lower end for engaging the nose of a bullet is threadedly received in the first sleeve in place of the resizing tool.

[451 July 17,1973

United States Patent [191 Kennedy CARTRIDGE RELOADING DIES PrimaryExaminer-Robert F. S'tahl l l lnventor: Neil James Kennedy, 437 5thA'Ysis'am 'f' Tudor Att0rney-Alired W. Brelner Avenue, Kimberley BC,Canada Jan. 12, 197] ABSTRACT [22] Filed:

l l pp A tool for reloading a variety ofsizes of spent cartridge casescomprising a normally upright, externally threaded, hollow, cylindricalbod y mounted in a reloading press. The upper portion of the body isinternally threaded and of greater dia selected cartridge case reeeivinmeter for receiving a g die, a first externally [58] Field of Search86/23, 29, 30, 36,

threaded sleeve is received in the body. A threaded daafln e (r d mm anu e n .wmn w mu m w lr. S a P k D-Ce o L ef li t CU b.m e d s m ml mbore in the sleeve receives a sec sleeve which has a threaded threadedrod having a resizin lower end thereof. Alternati 86/23 having asubstantially conical re I engaging the nose of a bullet is threadedlyreceived In the first sleeve in place of the resizing tool.

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5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures CARTRIDGE RELOADING DIES This inventionrelates to ammunition reloading tools and more particularly tointerchangeable dies for use in re-sizing and decapping spent cartridgecases.

An object of this invention is to provide a decapping and resizing too]including a cartridge case receiving member having removable decappingand resizing dies mounted therein whereby the dies of different sizesmay be inserted in the tool for accommodating different sized cartridgecases.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a decapping andresizing tool wherein the decapping and resizing unit is capable ofaxial adjustment relative to the cartridge case receiving member toaccommodate cartridge cases of different lengths.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a bullet seatingtool capable of being received in the body of the decapping and resizingtool whereby bullets can be seated and crimped in various sizes andlengths of cartridge cases.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a tool for reloading spentcartridge cases comprising a normally upright, externally threaded,hollow, cylindrical body an upper portion thereof being internallythreaded and of greater diameter for receiving a cartridge casereceiving die, a first externally threaded sleeve receivable in saidbody, a threaded bore in said sleeve for receiving a second externallythreaded sleeve and a threaded bore in said second sleeve for receivinga threaded rod having a resizing and decapping tool at a lower endthereof.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments of theinvention FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a reloading press and thedecapping and resizing tool assembly of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side elevational view of the decapping andresizing tool assembly of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the bullet seating tool for use inplace of the decapping and resizing tools in the tool body.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a crimping die for use in place ofthe resizing tool and FIG. 5 is a spacer sleeve for use in place of thesleeve shown in FIG. 3. 1

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, a decapping andresizing tool is indicated generally by the numeral in FIG. 1. The toolis shown mounted on a reloading press 11 which includes a mounting plate12 permitting mounting of the press on a suitable workbench. The press11 while not forming part of the present invention will be describedbriefly in order to provide a better understanding of the reloading tool10.

Accordingly, the press 11 has a channel member 17 integrally formed on aplunger guide member 16 forming a continuation of the plunger guidemember 16 for guiding the plunger. A tool press plunger 18 is verticallyslidable in the guide member 16 and is provided with suitable linkage(not. shown) which is operated by an actuating handle 19. One fonn oflinkage for operating the plunger is shown in US. Pat. No. 2,829,554.The upper portion of the plunger is provided with a shell holder 20having a slot 21 therein for accommodating the lower end of a spentcartridge shell therein. The shell holder 20 is detachably connected tothe plunger 18 and may be replaced with a shell holder for accommodatinga different size or kind of shell.

The tool press 11 has a conventional die holder 22 provided with athreaded recess 23 which receives the decapping and resizing tool 10therein.

The resizing and decapping tool 10 includes an externally threadedhollow cylindrical body 30 having :1 cylindrical bore 32 therethrough.An upper portion 33 of the bore 32 is threaded and is of greaterdiameter than a lower portion 34 so that a restriction is formed at 35.The unthreaded 34 portion has a length of seveneighths inch and theoverall length of the body 30 is approximately 2 A inches. The externallower end portion of the body is threaded at 36 for engagement with thethreaded recess 23 thereby permitting adjustment of the body 30 withrespect to the die holder 22. Locking means in the form of an internallythreaded knurled locking ring 38 is provided to lock the body member inan adjusted position relative to the die holder 22.

The threaded portion 33 of the bore 32 immediately above the restriction35 receives a selected one of the reloading dies 40, 41, 42 or 43 shownin FIGS. 2 to 5 respectively. The die designated by the numeral 40 is anexternal shell neck resizing die which has an internal bore flaringoutwardly at its lower end for receiving the neck of a cartridge case 45therein.

A first externally threaded sleeve 48 is threadedly received in theupper bore portion 33 of the body 30 and holds the die 40 against therestriction 35. The first sleeve has an outturned flange preferablyhaving flattened portions 49 to facilitate turning the sleeve. A knurledinternally threaded lock ring 50 on the sleeve 48 locks the sleeve in aselected axial position.

During the decapping and resizing operations the tool 10 will beassembled approximately as shown in FIG. 1. However, crimping and bulletseating require a different arrangement of elements as does the use ofthe tool 10 for reloading large shells such as a 300 magnum.

The first sleeve 48 is internally threaded to receive the decapping andresizing assembly 52 which includes a second externally threaded sleeve53 received in the first sleeve 48. The second sleeve 53 has acylindrical bore therethrough a portion 54 of which is threaded toreceive an externally threaded portion 55 of a stem 56. A lower end 60of the stem 56 extends through the die 40 into the bore 34 of the body30. This lower end 60 has a threaded portion 62 received in a threadedrecess in a hollow expander member 65 detachably mounted thereon. Theexpander 65 member has a bore 66 extending from its lower terminal end67 into said recess to receive a hardened steel decapping pin 69. Anenlarged head 70 on the pin 69 serves to retain the pin 69 in the bore66 and the lower end of the stem engages the head 69 thereby locking thepin 69 in the expander member 65.

The expander member 65 has a lirustro-conical terminal end portion tofacilitate entry into the shell neck and is of relatively standarddesign. It will also be appreciated that the decapping and resizingassembly 52 is capable of being axially adjusted by virtue of itsthreaded engagement in the second sleeve 53 and that a threaded lockingring 72 retains the assembly 52 in a selected adjusted position.

During operation, the decapping and resizing tool 10 will be properlysecured to the die holder 20 of the tool press 11 with the lower end ofthe decapping tool 10 normally adjacent the lower surface of the dieholder 22. However, should the shell casing be of the longer variety,then the tool would be adjusted upwardly. Furthermore, if an extra longshell such as a 300 magnum is to be reloaded, there will not besufficient adjustment since the bore 34 is only seven-eighths inch longso as to accommodate a short shell. In this case the spacer die 43 isplaced in the bore 33 before the neck sizing die 40 the sleeve 48 andthe resizing assembly 52. This having been done, a spent cartridge case45 is mounted in the shell holder of the tool press plunger 18 while inthe lower retracted position. Then the plunger is actuated through theuse of the actuating handle 19 to cause upward movement of the plungerand the shell will be inserted into the recess or cavity formed by thebore 34 and the bore of the resizing die 40.

The cartridge 45 will be urged into the recess and the expander member65 as well as the decapping pin 69 will be inserted through the neck ofthe shell causing the larger portion of the expander member 65 to resizethe neck while the pin 69 engages and removes the spent primer cap. Theactuating handle 19 is then moved in the opposite direction and thecartridge shell retracted and removed from the shell holder 20 after anew primer cap has been inserted and pressed into place on the downwardstroke of the press plunger. The operation is then repeated until allcartridges have been decapped and resized.

The charging of the shells with powder does not form part of the presentinvention and thus need only be mentioned. The next steps are those ofseating the bullet and, if necessary, crimping the neck of the shell. Inorder to use the tool body for bullet seating or crimping, the assembly52 including the second sleeve 53 and the stem 56 is removed from thebody 30. The sleeve 48 and the sizing die are also removed and if theshell is to be crimped, the crimping die 42 is substituted therefor. Onthe other hand, if the shell is not to be crimped, the die 41 is placedin the body in place of the die 40. The first sleeve 48 is then replacedin the body, tightened down and locked.

A bullet seating stem 80 shown in FIG. 3 having a threaded cylindricalbody 81 and a knurled top 82 is threadedly received in the bore of thefirst sleeve 48. The bullet seating stem 80 is capable of being axiallyadjusted and locked in a selected position by a threaded locking ring85. A lower end of the bullet seating stem 80 has a substantiallyconical recess for receiving the end of a bullet which is forced by thestem into the neck of the shell during upward movement of the pressplunger 18.

The advantages of a tool body which will receive various inserts therebymaking it possible to reload shells of various lengths and calibers willbe readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Through the use of thereloading tool of this invention, including sizing die 40 an expandermember 65 and either one of the dies 41 and 42 of the correct caliber,it is possible to reload any particular type of cartridge. Furthermore,by obtaining only the die inserts 40, 41 or 42 and an expander member 65of a different caliber it is possible to reload an additional cartridgesize.

It will be noted that the dies of this invention are particularlyconcerned with resizing the neck of the cartridge whereas somecommercially available dies do not permit neck resizing without fulllength resizing of the shell. This is important since full lengthresizing is not required unless the shell is used in different guns.Furthermore, full length resizing is not advisable more than four timesfor each casing whereas the neck of a casing may be resized up to 40times before the casing must be discarded.

I claim:

1. In combination, a tool for reloading spent cartridge cases comprisinga normally upright, externally threaded, hollow, cylindrical body, anupper portion thereof being internally threaded and of greater diameterthan a lower portion, said lower portion and upper portion forming arestriction for receiving a cartridge case receiving die, said die beingconstructed and arranged to receive and conform to the upper portion andless than the entire cartridge case and having a smooth outer surface, afirst externally threaded sleeve receivable in said body constructed andarranged to hold said die firmly in place on said restriction, athreaded bore in said first sleeve for receiving a second externallythreaded sleeve and a threaded bore in said second sleeve for receivinga threaded rod having a resizing and decapping tool at a lower endthereof, and said die in said tool.

2. In combination, a tool for reloading spent cartridge cases, said toolcomprising a normally upright, externally threaded hollow cylindricalbody, an upper portion thereof being internally threaded and of greaterdiameter than an unthreaded lower portion of said bore so that arestriction is formed between said threaded and unthreaded portionsagainst which a cartridge case receiving die will be seated when saidcartridge case receiving die is received in said threaded bore of saidbody, said die being constructed and arranged to receive and conform tothe upper portion and less than ing said bullet.

the entire cartridge case and having a smooth outer surface and a firstexternally threaded sleeve threadedly receivable in said bore of saidbody for holding said cartridge receiving die in position against saidrestriction, said first sleeve being internally threaded to receive aselected tool for resizing and decapping said cartridge or seating abullet, and said die seated in said tool.

3. A tool as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cartridge case receivingdie is a resizing die for resizing a cartridge case neck in cooperationwith said resizing and decapping tool mounted in said first sleeve.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 3 wherein a second externally threadedsleeve having a threaded bore therein is received in said first sleeveand said resizing and decapping tool is threadedly mounted on a lowerend of a threaded rod received in said threaded bore of said secondsleeve.

5. A tool as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cartridge case receivingdie is a crimping tool and a bullet seating tool is received in saidfirst sleeve, said bullet seating tool comprising an externally threadedbody having a substantially conical recess in its lower end for engag

1. In combination, a tool for reloading spent cartridge cases comprisinga normally upright, externally threaded, hollow, cylindrical body, anupper portion thereof being internally threaded and of greater diameterthan a lower portion, said lower portion and upper portion forming arestriction for receiving a cartridge case receiving die, said die beingconstructed and arranged to receive and conform to the upper portion andless than the entire cartridge case and having a smooth outer surface, afirst externally threaded sleeve receivable in said body constructed andarranged to hold said die firmly in place on said restriction, athreaded bore in said first sleeve for receiving a second externallythreaded sleeve and a threaded bore in said second sleeve for receivinga threaded rod having a resizing and decapping tool at a lower endthereof, and said die in said tool.
 2. In combination, a tool forreloading spent cartridge cases, said tool comprising a normallyupright, externally threaded hollow cylindrical body, an upper portionthereof being internally threaded and of greater diameter than anunthreaded lower portion of said bore so that a restriction is formedbetween said threaded and unthreaded portions against which a cartridgecase receiving die will be seated when said cartridge case receiving dieis received in said threaded bore of said body, said die beingconstructed and arranged to receive and conform to the upper portion andless than the entire cartridge case and having a smooth outer surfaceand a first externally threaded sleeve threadedly receivable in saidbore of said body for holding said cartridge receiving die in positionagainst said restriction, said first sleeve being internally threaded toreceive a selected tool for resizing and decapping said cartridge orseating a bullet, and said die seated in said tool.
 3. A tool as claimedin claim 2 wherein said cartridge case receiving die is a resizing diefor resizing a cartridge case neck in cooperation with said resizing anddecapping tool mounted in said first sleeve.
 4. A tool as claimed inclaim 3 wherein a second externally threaded sleeve having a threadedbore therein is received in said first sleeve and said resizing anddecapping tool is threadedly mounted on a lower end of a threaded rodreceived in said threaded bore of said second sleeve.
 5. A tool asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said cartridge case receiving die is acrimping tool and a bullet seating tool is received in said firstsleeve, said bullet seating tool comprising an externally threaded bodyhaving a substantially conical recess in its lower end for engaging saidbullet.